GENERAL:
Social media ban. Sir Keir Starmer set out government proposals for online restrictions for children and young people including ‘world-leading action on gaming services and livestreaming platforms’ set to come in from next spring.
Tech Secretary Statement. The Technology Secretary outlined the details behind the PM’s announcement on a social media ban for under 16s in a Statement to MPs, listing the platforms to be banned by early next year and indicating that further and more far reaching details would be announced next month.
Regulator role. The government promised Ofcom funding and support as it tasked it with assuring ‘highly effective age assurance’ systems for use with the government’s proposed new restrictions on young people’s use of social media, and to report back with options in October.
Labour Market Overview. The ONS published the latest initial figures on the UK labour market for the last quarter with commentators describing things as ‘cooling’ and/or ‘flat’, with unemployment slightly down and real pay growth up, but with vacancies down and a notable fall in starter jobs things continuing to look bleak for many young people.
Going for Growth. The British Chambers of Commerce called on the government to consider applying a Growth Delivery Test before announcing any new economic policy, arguing that we have the tools for growth, including skills, tech and business ambition, but need to convert these into action.
Manufacturing Outlook. The Manufacturers’ Organisation published their latest Economic Outlook, pointing to growing concerns about rising production costs particularly around energy leading many manufacturers to delay investment and even move abroad, calling as a result for expanded energy support.
British Council. The NAO published a report into the British Council which suffered ‘major commercial losses’ during the pandemic and which is facing a challenging turnaround plan intended to see the existing repayment loan paid off in 15 years but requiring staff cuts, savings and efficiencies in the meantime.
Early Years. The Education Policy Institute announced a new funded Observatory on the early years, aiming to bring together and spark debate about policy developments, data and best practice for under-fives in England.SCHOOLS:
Thanks Teacher. The Education Secretary used this year’s ‘National Thank A Teacher Day’ to thank teachers across the board, as well as to run through things the government has been doing/and hopes to be doing for education.
Education Inquiry. The Education Committee launched a call for evidence as it announced a new Inquiry to examine aspects of school reform in light of February’s Schools White Paper, looking at issues such as pupil absence, disadvantage and attainment and funding.Enrichment. The government outlined the eight evidence-based benchmarks along with resources, case studies and planning tools intended to support a framework for enrichment activities in schools and colleges in England.
After school activities. Data crunchers SchoolDash reported on the extent of extracurricular and enrichment activity currently going on in secondary schools in England, finding just over 15 different kinds of club offered per school though with much depending on school type, region and capacity.
At a disadvantage. Teach First called for targeted reform and funding for disadvantaged pupils as it reported on latest data showing persistently disadvantaged pupils typically 22 months of learning behind their non disadvantaged peers by the time they reach GCSE with notable regional differences.
Opportunity Gaps. The Sutton Trust looked at how challenges around opportunity and social mobility affected different groups and regions, suggesting these vary considerably by region, gender and ethnicity, calling as a result for ‘place-based missions’ to tackle local challenges and conditions.
Serious about Inclusion. The Centre for Young Lives and Mission 44 brought together in a new report insights gained from schools and young people as they examined issues around inclusion, highlighting six key themes including partnership, early intervention and the importance of place.
Absence and attainment. FFT Education Datalab examined KS2 attainment, absence and context across primary school, using 2025 data to suggest that they are closely interlinked with much dependent on pupil prior attainment and needs.
Boys from low-income families. The Institute for Government reported on early years provision for boys from low-income families, highlighting first many of the challenges they face including poor housing, poor services and financial pressures before setting out five principles to support effective provision in the early years.
FE/SKILLS:
Digital Roadmap. The AoC and UfI VocTech Trust set out a structured roadmap with three ‘progressive stages’ towards digital maturity to help colleges move forward embedding digital and AI across their work.
Employer engagement. The AoC called for a funded national employer engagement strategy as it published its latest employer engagement survey showing the importance of collaboration on areas like work experience, internships and governance but also some of the challenges involved notably around capability, capacity and cost.
Youth Guarantee Trailblazer. The Learning and Work Institute reported on the first year of Central London Forward’s Youth Guarantee Trailblazer, delivered across 12 London Boroughs and focused on ‘care-experienced’ young people likely to be NEET, pointing to many effective features and recommending its potential for rolling out to other Trailblazer areas.
City and Guilds. PeopleCert confirmed that the internal investigation into internal payments and bonuses in City and Guilds had now concluded, declaring that the payments and salary increases in question had not been formally authorised and that steps were being taken to recover the money.HE:
Minimum requirements. The Times Higher looked into the current debate about UK university applicants needing at least a pass in English GCSE to qualify for a student loan, finding divergent views across sector bodies with the government refusing to speculate ahead of any announcement on the 2026/7 teaching grant.
Time to wake up. Policy commentator Jonathan Simons responded to recent reports about the challenges facing UKHE by calling on the sector to recognise that with few advocates for it in parliament, it needs ‘to come up with solutions for today’s environment’ such as in the importance of high-level skills.
Student loans. The Student Loans Co published data on student loans across the UK nations for the last financial year, showing undergraduate lending in England last year up 3.5% to £20.5bn with an indicative £4.2bn repaid by HE borrowers via HMRC.
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